Twisted prism explosive device

ABSTRACT

A warhead having a casing of a hollow twisted prism configuration. A hollow central portion of the casing contains an explosive and four, equally spaced, axially located detonators. Square steel rod fragments are located on the faces of the prism and are oriented perpendicular to the axis of the warhead.

Elniied Seams Eafiem 1191 1111 aeswm Weeding Dec. W, 1974 [5 TWISTED PRISM'EXPLOSIVE' DEVICE 3,613,586 10/1971 Talley et al. 102/67 [75] Inventor: Gale S. Weeding, Denver, Colo. 1 [73] Assignee: The United States of America as Prima'y Y f l represented by the Secretary of the Attorney, Agent, or Firm-R. S. Sc1asc1a, P. Schne1der, Navy, Washington, DC. Sturm [22] Filed: June 30, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 268,226 [57] ABSTRACT A warhead having a casing of a hollow twisted prism configuration A hollow central portion of the casing 0 I u u u u I u I I w l u n I I u u u u u u l I u u u I I n l o I a Fleld Of Search A located detonators Square Steel rod fragments are cated on the faces of the prism and are oriented per- [56] References cued pendicular to the axis of the warhead.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,245,353 4/1966 Gilbertson et al. lO2/70.2 A

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TWISTED PRISM EXPLOSIVE DEVICE STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A. Field of the invention The present invention relates generally to an explosive device, and more particularly to a twisted prism shaped warhead.

B. Description of the prior art Standard warheads normally produce a fragment beam of relatively low concentration and velocity. It is not unusual for a warhead to produce a wide fragmentation pattern with an uneven distribution of fragments therein. The sections with few or no fragments therein may be due to the lack of symmetry about 360 with respect to the warhead longitudinal axis. It may be due to the breakup of fragments, which is too great or uneven as the fragments move away from the longitudinal axis upon the explosive of the warhead device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the present invention is to provide a warhead which produces a 360 beam of warhead frgments which is more concentrated, more even and symmetrical, and of higher velocity, than the fragment beam of a conventional warhead.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to increse the damage capabilities of warheads against air and surface targets.

Another object is to reduce the delivery time between warhead burst and target impact.

A further object of the invention is to produce a substantially uniform fragmentation pattern about an entire 360 from the warhead longitudinal axis.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when cnsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawmgs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the twisted prism explosive device.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another form of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the embodiment of FIG. 2 showing the manner and direction of expansion of elements from the casing of a twisted prism warhead DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, shows a warhead having a square cross-sectional casing 11, of AZ9lC Mg/Al Alloy, mild steel, or other suitable material, which is twisted through 90 along the longitudinal axis. An explosive I2 is disposed within casing 11 and four axially located pentolite booster detonators 15 are equally spaced within aluminum tubing 13 by air spaces 14.

FIG. 2 is a modified form of the embodiment of FIG. 1 and shows steel rod fragments 16 connected to the faces of the prism in any suitable fashion such as by welding or by soldering. The modification of FIG. 2 conforms in all other respects to the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a top view of FIG. 2 and displays the four layers of rod fragments 16 affixed to the warhead casing 11 and oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the warhead.

FIG. 4 illustrates the manner and direction of expansion of rod elements from the casing of the twisted prism warhead of FIG. 2 upon detonation of the device.

The present invention concept is based on the advantage of one-dimensional expansion as opposed to two or three dimensional expansion as in isotropic type devices. The flat surface of the prism faces serves to yield a more sufficient method for momentum transfer to the fragments and also the blast wave, yielding higher fragment velocities and greater blast yield velocities at large distances from the device. The purpose of the twist is to eliminate void areas in the damage envelope. Through the focusing capability of the multi-point axial initiation, the fragments and blasts are concentrated in a narrow region, and high velocities are achieved. The fragments are arranged on the device so as to provide a great deal of overlap in the fragments, thus serving to reinforce each other or produce a synergistic effect.

The design of the preferred embodiments of the present invention is basically an elongated body with a regular polygonal cross-section spiraled along the longitudinal axis of the explosive body. The number of sides of the polygon is not necessarily limited but can be varied dependent upon requirements. The preferred embodiments illustrated herein are square in cross-section and are twisted through a angle uniformly throughout the length of the device in such a manner that perpendicular rays or normals to any one surface would cover a 90 sector of each side of the device. Since each side of the square cross-section covers a 90 sector, the total angular coverage around the axis of the four-sided device is a full 360.

To achieve complete 360 converage about the axis of the device, the amount of twist of the regular polygonal surface should exceed or equal the number of sides divided into 360. This means that a triangular crosssection must be twisted through l20, a square crosssection' through 90, an octagonal cross-section through 45. etc.

The explosive 12 is initiated on the longitudinal axis for best results in projecting the casing material. While initiation can be achieved in any number of ways, optimum focusing of the casing material is achieved with simulanteous initiation of detonators 15 along the length of the longitudinal axis. In this way, the casing material 11 and rods 16 are projected in narrow bands.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood, that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention maybe practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

l. A warhead comprising:

a warhead casing being substantially the shape of a twisted prism having a longitudinal axis and a straight side between each adjacent corner of the prism;

explosive within said casing; and

detonator means disposed within said explosive means along said longitudinal axis,

said prism being twisted about said longitudinal axis,

and

said explosive means touching the longitudinal sides of the prism at all points.

2. A warhead comprising:

a warhead casing of a straight-sided polygonal configuration in cross-section, and having a longitudinal axis,

the longitudinal sides being twisted around the longitudinal axis;

explosive means within said casing; and

detonator means disposed within said explosive means along said longitudinal axis,

said explosive means touching the longitudinal sides of the casing at all points.

3. A warhead comprising:

a warhead casing of a straight-sided polygonal configuration in cross-section and having a longitudinal axis,

the longitudinal, angled corners of said casing being non-linear in the longitudinal direction;

explosive means within said casing; and

detonator means disposed within said explosive means along said longitudinal axis,

said explosive means touching the longitudinal sides of the casing at all points.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein the angled corners are spiral shaped.

5. The device of claim 3 wherein the angled corners are helical in shape.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein the degree of twist of said prism is equal to or greater than 360 divided by the number of sides of said prism.

7. The device of claim 3 wherein at least one layer of separate, straight rods are positioned on said casing perpendicular to a plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the warhead. 

1. A warhead comprising: a warhead casing being substantially the shape of a twisted prism having a longitudinal axis and a straight side between each adjacent corner of the prism; explosive within said casing; and detonator means disposed within said explosive means along said longitudinal axis, said prism being twisted about said longitudinal axis, and said explosive means touching the longitudinal sides of the prism at all points.
 2. A warhead comprising: a warhead casing of a straight-sided polygonal configuration in cross-section, and having a longitudinal axis, the longitudinal sides being twisted around the longitudinal axis; explosive means within said casing; and detonator means disposed within said explosive means along said longitudinal axis, said explosive means touching the longitudinal sides of the casing at all points.
 3. A warhead comprising: a warhead casing of a straight-sided polygonal configuration in cross-section and having a longitudinal axis, the longitudinal, angled corners of said casing being non-linear in the longitUdinal direction; explosive means within said casing; and detonator means disposed within said explosive means along said longitudinal axis, said explosive means touching the longitudinal sides of the casing at all points.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherein the angled corners are spiral shaped.
 5. The device of claim 3 wherein the angled corners are helical in shape.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein the degree of twist of said prism is equal to or greater than 360* divided by the number of sides of said prism.
 7. The device of claim 3 wherein at least one layer of separate, straight rods are positioned on said casing perpendicular to a plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the warhead. 